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Feline morbillivirus (FeMV) was isolated for the first time in 2012 with an association with chronic kidney disease (CKD) suggested. This study aimed at investigating in cats from southern Italy FeMV prevalence and risk factors for exposure to FeMV, including the relationship with CKD; sequencing amplicons and analyzing phylogeny of PCR positive samples. Blood serum, K3EDTA blood and urine samples from 223 cats were investigated. Ten carcasses were also evaluated. FeMV RNA was detected in 2.4% (5/211) blood and 16.1% (36/223) urine samples. One carcass tested positive by qPCRFeMV from kidney, urinary bladder, and submandibular lymph nodes. Antibodies against FeMV were detected in 14.5% (28/193) cats. We followed up 27 cats (13 FeMV positive cats) and documented in some cases urine shedding after up to 360 days. Older and foundling cats and cats living in rescue catteries, were more frequently infected with FeMV. A significant correlation between FeMV and higher serum creatinine values or low urine specific gravity was found. FeMV positivity was significantly associated with retroviral infection, and the presence of some clinical signs apart from CKD clinicopathological markers. Our study highlights the possibility of a link between FeMV exposure and CKD and a general impairment of feline health.

Feline morbillivirus (FeMV) was first isolated in 2012 from stray cats in Hong Kong. It has been found in association with tubulointerstitial nephritis (TIN), the most common cause of feline chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, viral host spectrum and virus tropism go beyond the domestic cat and kidney tissues. The viral genetic diversity of FeMV is extensive, but it is not known if this is clinically relevant. Urine and kidney tissues have been widely tested in attempts to confirm associations between FeMV infection and renal disease, but samples from both healthy and sick cats can test positive and some cross-sectional studies have not found associations between FeMV infection and CKD. There is also evidence for acute kidney injury following infection with FeMV. The results of prevalence studies differ greatly depending on the population tested and methodologies used for detection, but worldwide distribution of FeMV has been shown. Experimental studies have confirmed previous field observations that higher viral loads are present in the urine compared to other tissues, and renal TIN lesions associated with FeMV antigen have been demonstrated, alongside virus lymphotropism and viraemia-associated lymphopenia. Longitudinal field studies have revealed persistent viral shedding in urine, although infection can be cleared spontaneously.

This study is aimed at detecting Feline paramyxovirus (FPaV) and Feline morbillivirus (FeMV) in 35 urine samples from domestic cats, collected in 2019, with or without clinical signs of uropathies using a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) followed by semi-nested polymerase chain reaction (SN-PCR) assays to amplify a partial paramyxovirus L gene. Eight (22.9%) out of the 35 urine samples were positive for paramyxoviruses. Sequencing and phylogenetic analyses revealed that three samples were positive for FPaV, four samples were positive for FeMV, and it was not possible to determine which virus was present in one RT-SN-PCR positive urine sample. FPaV strains showed 100% nucleotide (nt) identity with each other and 97% nt identity with a Japanese 163 FPaV strain. The FeMV strains showed 85.9% nt identity with each other; three strains were similar to previously described Brazilian FeMV strains, and one strain clustered in a different branch of the phylogenetic tree together with the first described Chinese FeMV strain. This study provides the first description of FPaV strains in cats from Brazil and provides new information about the molecular characteristics of FPaV and FeMV strains circulating in domestic cats in Brazil.